 we're back again... |
 ...this time staying in an apartment in this historic building |
 though there are many such buildings to choose from here |
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 Krakow has many monuments to famous Poles... |
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 ...in all branches of human endeavor |
 right off, we head for the archives... |
 ...again looking for info on Marla's great-great-aunts |
 the records lead us to a school where one of the sisters taught |
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 and Marla can walk the same halls where she once did |
 here's a building which housed a business owned by a friend's family |
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 well, we weren't expecting this! |
 a guided tour of Kazimierz by our friends Witek, Ania, and Zuza |
 kerosene lamps at this hostel recall their invention by Ignacy Lukasiewicz |
 the Corpus Christi church |
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 it's an entire art history course on one wall |
 a nautical theme in the pulpit design |
 best to avoid the temptations of the deep... |
 now we're out on plac Wolnica |
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 a separate city in the 14th-c., Kazimierz is now part of Krakow |
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 hmm... where to eat lunch? |
 we decide to head across the Wisla to the Podgorze district |
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 and then back again to Kazimierz |
 now we're at the St. Stanislaus Church at Skalka... |
 ...also known as the Church on the Rock |
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 many famous Poles are remembered here... |
 ...quite a few of whom are entombed in the crypt below |
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 out in the light again, here's part of the ancient Kazimierz city wall |
 down by the river, a strange rabbit and friends |
 Wawel castle seen from the riverside walk |
 heading toward old town |
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 these two seem concerned about the building's structural integrity |
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 the Saint Andrew church |
 (Krakow has over 100 active churches) |
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 the gardens of the archeology museum |
 here's the church of St. Francis of Assisi... |
 ...brilliantly decorated by Stanislaw Wyspianski |
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 although the previous painters weren't bad either |
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 in a branch of the national art museum, at the Cloth Hall |
 the Temptation of St. Anthony, by Lucjan Wendrychowski |
 a self-portrait by Anna Belinska-Bohdanowiczowa |
 on the old market square |
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 there are historic traces everywhere in town |
 there's that dang rabbit again |
 we are with Witek and Ania again, now in Nowa Huta |
 the town was buit by the Soviets as a model city, to support the giant new steel mill |
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 it's a landmark of Socialist Realism |
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 the existing layout and building blocks closely follow the long-term design plan |
 the tram to the former steel works |
 we take a short trip out to 14th-c. Niepolomice |
 the town still has a lovely central park... |
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 ...and a preserve of historic buildings |
 the castle has been converted into an art museum |
 what the castle looked like before rehabilitation |
 it's good to have an art historian with us! |
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 some interesting older houses in town... |
 ...one of which is now a bakery |
 Ania knows where the town's Jewish cemetery is... |
 ...though the associated community is gone |
 back in Kazimierz, we meet Scottish documentary filmmakers at the Galicia Jewish Museum... |
 ...and visit a photo exhibit on the work of Ze'ev Aleksandrowicz |
 it covers his shots of Krakow and Palestine from the 1930s |
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 Marla gives a lecture at this museum soon after... |
 ...and a week later at the Krakow JCC... |
 ...gives another lecture on a related topic |
 it's May 3rd - Constitution Day! |
 now we're visiting the main building of the National Museum in Krakow |
 there's an exhibit on the work of pop artist Lucjan Mianowski |
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 elsewhere in the museum, artifacts from past centuries... |
 ...including a curious back-to-back double violin... |
 ...and a nice collection of door hardware |
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 the museum also has a large collection of Judaica |
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 and old photos of synagogues now inactive or lost |
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 back in the main modern art section, large stained-glass designs by Jozef Mehoffer |
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 and Wyspianski's design for glass at the Wawel cathedral, based on the legend of Princess Wanda |
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 it's a nice day for a walk in the Planty Park around the old town |
 a tribute to harmonious relations with Lithuania |
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 here's the Palace of Art... |
 ...itself a fine example of the Secessionist style |
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 inside, a series of temporary exhibits |
 this one on the photography of architecture |
 we seem to have a bit of art on exhibit at the back of our apartment building also |
 on another nice day, we head off with friend Alex for a walk along the Wisla |
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 and a dinner among friends visiting from L'viv |
 the market square at night |
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 again with Alex, we return to the Podgorze area to see the Ghetto Monument |
 and to visit the historical museum at Schindler's factory |
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 the main exhibit focuses on Krakow under the WWII occupation |
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 Germans toppling the Mickiewicz monument in the market square |
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 building the ghetto wall |
 a wartime city map is on the ceiling; there's our apartment building |
 and a familiar photo is in the rotating display |
 next door, the Krakow modern art museum |
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 the current exhibits include sports-themed art |
 these players each wear a jersey with a quote from a modern artist |
 no comments, please |
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 again! |
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 walking the streets of Podgorze |
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 here's the early 20th-c. St. Jozef church |
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 and the well-named Chapel on the Rock |
 this poor woman spent most of the day modeling for cameras |
 now we're deep under the old town market square... |
 ...visiting the remains of a much-older cloth hall |
 archaeologists have uncovered nearly-intact streets from the 14th-c... |
 as well as an easily-recognizable early version of what's overhead today |
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 quite a few cultural artifacts have been found as well |
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 along with a few former inhabitants |
 the museum is spectacular... |
 ...but the effort to create it no less stunning |
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 here's the house museum of Jozef Mehoffer |
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 his former house is filled with his designs and completed pieces |
 along with much of his furnishings |
 designs for stained glass... |
 and examples of smaller (room-sized) works |
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 the house is accompanied by a pleasant garden |
 today there is a children's concert |
 now we are visiting the Museum of Municipal Engineering! |
 there's a good display of the tram system over the years |
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 some sights in the historical items... |
 ...are easily recognized today |
 besides the trams, there's further transportation displays (here, the Warszawa 200, from 1957) |
 a good display on the history of the Fiat manufactured in Poland... |
 ...including these little gems |
 the door to this oddity is in front |
 the start of the Polish motorcycle industry |
 elsewhere the museum has an amazing collection of printing machines... |
 ...including this music printer |
 now, which tram takes us home? |
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 we pay another visit to the new Jewish cemetery... |
 ...to consider ideas for projects elsewhere |
 then on the street again to view the temporary art exhibits |
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 here's another, at the Ethnographic Museum |
 a remarkable collection by the American photographer Sally Mann |
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 her show is called "The Family... |
 ...and the Land" |
 the Euro 2012 football matches are starting; we have to rig a better TV antenna |
 this little one was born while we were living here; she'll still be here when we come back! |